We think EVERY child deserves the opportunity to learn, laugh, grow and meet new challenges through safe, organized summer activities. So, our Summer Opportunities Program offers “camperships” – small scholarships enabling our clients’ children to participate in a sports, music or STEM camp, take swim lessons, go to a Scouts camp, or participate in another approved summer enrichment program.

With a gift of $100 – $150, you can bring joy to a child this summer. Simply make a “summer camp” notation on your check or online gift.

For information, call Cyndi or Beth at 636.861.2623.

COC March 2024 Enews

• New Pantry Shelves Improve Safety and Capacity
• Summer Opportunities
• Our Volunteer Spotlight Shines on Jim Brockman
• Kids Love Cereal!

For every organization, big or small, strategic planning is critical; and the initiatives that come from that work vary in complexity and effort. New commercial pantry shelving may not seem like the stuff of strategy-making, but when that new shelving improves safety and maximizes storage and display capacity for our core program, that puts the project in a whole new perspective!

Our shelving project was months in the making, and it was unveiled mid-February after a four-day shut-down of the pantry. Our Building and Grounds committee and pantry staff lead the project with the help of some hard-working volunteers.

The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive from our client families and volunteers, who love the clean, professional look of the shelving and the more “open” feel of the pantry space. We love the sturdy, easier-to-reach units, and the bolted-to-the-wall features that eliminate the risk of tipping.

Improvement projects like this one are made possible by our generous community; and those who love investing in the brick and mortar of our buildings. We are filled with gratitude for all who play a role in both our day-to-day work, and especially the strategic initiatives that make us better!

COC March 2024 Enews

• New Pantry Shelves Improve Safety and Capacity
• Summer Opportunities
• Our Volunteer Spotlight Shines on Jim Brockman
• Kids Love Cereal!

Thank You Golfers & Sponsors! Another successful Circle of Concern golf tournament is in the books, and we are grateful to everyone who made this event possible! The event raised nearly $35,000 ($5,000 more than 2022!) for the food pantry and our other programs.

Many thanks to our hosts from St. Mark Presbyterian Church, our dedicated volunteers, Greg and his team at Aberdeen and our players who are the lifeblood of this popular tournament!

We especially want to thank our sponsors, who are the foundation of this event!

COC June 2023 Enews

• Circle Celebrates a Fulbright Scholar!
• So Much S’more than Camp!
• Thank You 2023 Golfers & Sponsors!

Mention summer camp, and visions of swimming, arts & crafts and maybe the ubiquitous chocolate marshmallow sandwich come to mind. Summer camp means so much more, especially for the children of Circle clients.

To date this year, 104 children have been awarded Summer Opportunity camperships. The nearly $13,500 in camperships cover admission to summer enrichment of the child’s choice. Swim lessons? Absolutely! Baseball? Sure! Music lessons, cooking classes, theater or chess camp? Yes!

These camps provide instruction and play, but they offer even more. By engaging children in extra activities in the summer, they tend to remain intellectually engaged between school years, learn lifelong skills, build social connections, bolster self-esteem and resiliency and much more. And parents benefit by sending their children safely to camp, easing summer day care costs, and knowing their child is experiencing all that summer can offer.

Life stories are written at summer camp. Thank you for helping to write those of our Circle kids!

Both our Scholarship program and our Summer Opportunity camperships give young people the chance to pursue their interests and expand their view of what life can hold. Will you consider bolstering those two programs with a donation today?

Click here to make a contribution, perhaps in memory of a teacher who changed your life or in honor of a camp experience that lives in your memory. Or aim your phone’s camera at the QR code to make a gift.

Thank you for your generous support. Our scholars and campers appreciate your support!

COC June 2023 Enews

• Circle Celebrates a Fulbright Scholar!
• So Much S’more than Camp!
• Thank You 2023 Golfers & Sponsors!

Every recipient of a Circle of Concern scholarship is a winner. After all, the competitive application process assures that each student has already laid a path toward success, thanks to good grades, strong goals and a willingness to work for a bright future.

Sometimes, though, the future shines a little more bright. Fulbright, that is!

Lucy Grimshaw, a four-year recipient of a Circle scholarship, is now a Fulbright Scholarship awardee! Fulbright Scholarships are highly competitive awards that support international studies, professional connections and a broad, global perspective for the recipients to then bring home to serve their communities at home. Lucy will attend the University of Manchester in England to pursue a master’s degree in research and criminology.

A recent grad of the University of Missouri – St. Louis, Lucy received dual degrees in Public Policy Administration and Social Work with an Honors certificate. After her year abroad, she is considering law school, with the ultimate goal of positively impacting the intersection of mental health, race and poverty in the American criminal justice system.

We are so proud of Lucy’s achievements and wish her well with her Fulbright studies and beyond!

Read more of Lucy’s story here.

Both our Scholarship program and our Summer Opportunity camperships give young people the chance to pursue their interests and expand their view of what life can hold. Will you consider bolstering those two programs with a donation today?

Click here to make a contribution, perhaps in memory of a teacher who changed your life or in honor of a camp experience that lives in your memory. Or aim your phone’s camera at the QR code to make a gift.

Thank you for your generous support. Our scholars and campers appreciate your support!

COC June 2023 Enews

• Circle Celebrates a Fulbright Scholar!
• So Much S’more than Camp!
• Thank You 2023 Golfers & Sponsors!

Garden Greens & Healthy Families

The last few years have brought many changes to Circle of Concern. One of the most popular of them has been our on-site garden, which produced nearly 2,000 pounds of colorful, varied fruits and vegetable for our clients in 2022.

Plans are underway for this spring’s planting, and volunteers are poised to get seeds in the ground and harvest in our clients’ kitchens. We also look forward to the generous surplus that our home-gardening friends bring to share. Local church and community gardens bring such abundance, too. Throughout the summer, beautiful tomatoes, greens, beans and herbs are eagerly chosen by happy clients.

These foods are on the front lines against a common term in the vocabulary of poverty and hunger – nutrition insecurity. While many of us have heard of food deserts and food insecurity, nutrition insecurity gets at the heart of something we all face. Even when foods are inexpensive and easily available, they often don’t contain much in the way of the vitamins and other nutrients we need to thrive. Circle is staring down nutrition insecurity.

Each month at Circle, we offer three featured food items to boost the nutritional value of the groceries our clients take home. In April, those items are collard greens, herbs and the plant-based protein tofu, each of which is packed with vitamins and other nutrients. When combined with our traditional shelf-stable items, milk, eggs, fruit, potatoes, carrots, meat and more, we bring the foods we offer closer to recommended dietary guidelines offered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. To learn more about these guidelines, please visit MyPlate.gov.

Your gifts make this nutritional bounty possible. In a world where processed foods are often less expensive than healthier fresh foods, your support gives our clients a chance for real nutritional security. On their behalf, thank you!

COC April 2023 Enews

• Drive-Up Donors!
• Nutrition Insecurity/Garden Greens
• 2023 Golf Tournament

Drive-Through Food Drive at Circle

Saturday, April 22 – 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

112 St. Louis Avenue in Valley Park
Hosted by King of Kings Lutheran Church

Amazon Wish List »

Saturday warehouse donation drop-offs are back!

During Covid, we couldn’t take donations in our warehouse on Saturday, but we’re open on Saturday now, for your convenience! Cap off a busy week with a feel-good drop-off of needed foods on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Our volunteers will be happy to help you unload.

Check out our Amazon Wish List for items we need the most now. We welcome your support with foods that our client families choose most often … and that are depleted most quickly. Your neighbors-in-need thank you!

COC April 2023 Enews

• Drive-Up Donors!
• Nutrition Insecurity/Garden Greens
• 2023 Golf Tournament

The Fairway is Full!

Our player roster for the 17^th Annual Circle of Concern Golf Tournament is SOLD OUT! We are grateful for our friends who will join us on the links on Monday, May 22 at Aberdeen Golf Club in Eureka!*

There’s still time to support Circle with a sponsorship to promote your business, club, team or family to a full flight of happy golfers. Levels range from $150 to $1,500, and we will be happy to provide signage and multiple mentions at the event and afterwards.

Sign up to sponsor here, visit circleofconcern.org or scan with your phone to sponsor online!

*Players on foursomes that are already reserved but just need to pay, please contact Nancy@circleofconcern.org.

COC April 2023 Enews

• Drive-Up Donors!
• Nutrition Insecurity/Garden Greens
• 2023 Golf Tournament

We love our scholarship program which, this year, is awarding 12 renewal scholarships to students already in post-high school education and nine scholarships to new students fresh out of high school. Here are just a few reasons why we love this program so much:

• Several students are entering medical fields, including a future nurse, physician’s assistant and neurosurgeon.
• Two awardees are the first members of their families to attend college; their entire families are rallied behind them and their success.
• One student opted to finish the last two years of high school remotely to save money and, more importantly, to keep chronically ill family members safe. She graduated with honors and plans for a vibrant future.
• Another awardee is attending a local private university, living at home and carefully stewarding every available dollar for school; this student remarked on his commitment to be frugal with dollars and work hard to succeed.
• Our students are entering diverse fields. In addition to those aiming for the medical world, we have those preparing for careers in animal sciences, automotive technology, architectural engineering, business and more.

Congratulations to all our 2023 scholarship awardees!

COC October 2022 Enews

• Votes are Counted!
• Holiday Adoption Open
• Program Snapshot: Scholarship

The holidays start early at Circle!

For the past two years, thanks to your generous support, every Circle client received a gift card by early December to celebrate the holiday season, instead of receiving gifts at a large, crowded event. This year, as we’ve inched toward more normal times, we asked our clients which they preferred from the Holiday Adoption program. Overwhelmingly, our clients reported that the gift cards gave them the most flexibility in giving their loved ones the most fulfilling holiday.

As a result, although we all miss the holiday fun of shopping for our adopted families, we have decided to continue with the $50 gift card distribution. One card per family member will be given out at monthly pantry appointments, starting in November.

Will you please help us reach our goal of providing a warm and bright holiday season for up to 2,400 people who rely on Circle? Just let us know how many people you’d like to adopt, at $50 per person, and note “Holiday Adoption” on the memo line of your gift or click the Holiday Adoption button here.

Thank you for being the best of the season for Circle families.

COC October 2022 Enews

• Votes are Counted!
• Holiday Adoption Open
• Program Snapshot: Scholarship